I clicked this picture from my balcony in Lucknow, last winter. Peacocks and peahens don’t mind our home in the dense green surroundings. They sit on my rooftop at times, and even come to feed on the roti served for birds that are more frequent in visiting my balcony: warblers, babblers, mynas,the lone coucal, pairs of pink flecked doves and crows.

Pandit ji belongs to Lucknow gharana of Kathak, and I have been privileged to attend a training workshop withhim at Kathak Kendra, Gomtinagar, Lucknow in the year 2006. It was unforgettable! Dance is a wonderful therapy. Kathak is an eminent classical dance of India, and it is amazing to learn it with such ease from the legendary Pandit Birju Maharaj.

Kathak students still visit his ancestral home in Lucknow to seek blessings. His lineage